|
Second Generation Video Game Console
In the history of video games, the second-generation era refers to computer and video games, video game consoles, and handheld video game consoles available from 1976 to 1992. Notable platforms of the second generation include the Fairchild Channel F, Atari 2600, Intellivision, Odyssey 2, and ColecoVision. The generation began in November 1976 with the release of the Fairchild Channel F. This was followed by the Atari 2600 in 1977, Magnavox Odyssey² in 1978, Intellivision in 1980 and then the Emerson Arcadia 2001, ColecoVision, Atari 5200, and Vectrex,Barton, Matt and Loguidice, Bill. (2007)A History of Gaming Platforms: The Vectrex, Gamasutra. all in 1982. By the end of the era, there were over 15 different consoles. It coincided with, and was partly fuelled by, the golden age of arcade video games. This peak era of popularity and innovation for the medium resulted in many games for second generation home consoles being ports of arcade games. ''Space Invaders'', the first "k ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
History Of Video Games
The history of video games began in the 1950s and 1960s as computer science, computer scientists began designing simple games and simulation video game, simulations on minicomputers and mainframe computer, mainframes. ''Spacewar!'' was developed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) student hobbyists in 1962 as one of the first such video games, games on a video display. The first consumer video game hardware was released in the early 1970s. The first home video game console was the Magnavox Odyssey, and the first arcade video games were ''Computer Space'' and ''Pong''. After its home console conversions, numerous companies sprang up to capture ''Pong''s success in both the arcade and the home by Video game clone, cloning the game, causing a series of boom and bust cycles due to oversaturation and lack of innovation. By the mid-1970s, low-cost programmable microprocessors replaced the discrete transistor–transistor logic circuitry of early hardware, and the first ROM ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Killer App
A killer application (often shortened to killer app) is any software that is so necessary or desirable that it proves the core value of some larger technology, such as its host computer hardware, video game console, software platform, or operating system. Consumers would buy the host platform just to access that application, possibly substantially increasing sales of its host platform. Usage The earliest recorded use of the term "killer app" in print is in the May 24, 1988 issue of '' PC Week'': "Everybody has only one killer application. The secretary has a word processor. The manager has a spreadsheet." The definition of "killer app" came up during the deposition of Bill Gates in the '' United States v. Microsoft Corp.'' antitrust case. He had written an email in which he described Internet Explorer as a killer app. In the questioning, he said that the term meant "a popular application," and did not connote an application that would fuel sales of a larger product or one that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Microvision
The Microvision (aka Milton Bradley Microvision or MB Microvision) is the first handheld game console that used interchangeable cartridges and in that sense is reprogrammable. It was released by the Milton Bradley Company in November 1979 for a retail price of $49.99, equivalent to $212.00 in 2023. The Microvision was designed by Jay Smith, the engineer who later designed the Vectrex video game console. The Microvision's combination of portability and a cartridge-based system led to moderate success, with Smith Engineering grossing $15 million in the first year of the system's release. However, its small game library, its small screen, and a lack of support from established home video game companies led to its demise in 1981. According to Satoru Okada, the former head of Nintendo's R&D1 Department, the Microvision inspired the Game Boy, the follow-up to Game & Watch, after Nintendo designed around Microvision's limitations. Production Unlike most later consoles, the Mic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Artificial Intelligence (video Games)
In video games, artificial intelligence (AI) is used to generate responsive, adaptive or intelligence, intelligent behaviors primarily in non-player character, non-playable characters (NPCs) similar to Human intelligence, human-like intelligence. Artificial intelligence has been an integral part of video games since their inception in 1948, first seen in the game ''Nim''. AI in video games is a distinct subfield and differs from academic AI. It serves to improve the game-player experience rather than machine learning or decision making. During the golden age of arcade video games the idea of AI opponents was largely popularized in the form of graduated difficulty levels, distinct movement patterns, and in-game events dependent on the player's input. Modern games often implement existing techniques such as pathfinding and Decision tree learning, decision trees to guide the actions of NPCs. AI is often used in mechanisms which are not immediately visible to the user, such as data m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Microprocessor
A microprocessor is a computer processor (computing), processor for which the data processing logic and control is included on a single integrated circuit (IC), or a small number of ICs. The microprocessor contains the arithmetic, logic, and control circuitry required to perform the functions of a computer's central processing unit (CPU). The IC is capable of interpreting and executing program instructions and performing arithmetic operations. The microprocessor is a multipurpose, Clock signal, clock-driven, Processor register, register-based, digital integrated circuit that accepts binary code, binary data as input, processes it according to instruction (computing), instructions stored in its computer memory, memory, and provides results (also in binary form) as output. Microprocessors contain both combinational logic and sequential logic, sequential digital logic, and operate on numbers and symbols represented in the binary number system. The integration of a whole CPU on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Optical Disc
An optical disc is a flat, usuallyNon-circular optical discs exist for fashion purposes; see shaped compact disc. disc-shaped object that stores information in the form of physical variations on its surface that can be read with the aid of a beam of light. Optical discs can be reflective, where the light source and detector are on the same side of the disc, or transmissive, where light shines through the disc to be detected on the other side. Optical discs can store analog information (e.g. LaserDisc), digital information (e.g. DVD), or store on the same disc (e.g. CD Video). Their main uses are the distribution of media and data, and long-term archival. Design and technology The encoding material sits atop a thicker substrate (usually polycarbonate) that makes up the bulk of the disc and forms a dust defocusing layer. The encoding pattern follows a continuous, spiral path covering the entire disc surface and extending from the innermost track to the outermost track ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Ultimate History Of Video Games
''The Ultimate History of Video Games'' is a 2001 non-fiction book by Steven L. Kent published initially by Prima Publishing and later by Three Rivers Press. It is an updated version of the self-published ''The First Quarter: A 25-Year History of Video Games''. Development Steven L. Kent worked as a video game reviewer and journalist for publications such as Electronic Games, The Seattle Times, and USA Today. In the course of his press work, he interviewed many major players in the video game industry and began work on a comprehensive history of video games, originally titled ''Electronic Nation''. Though his initial plan was to publish the book in 1995, he was unable to find an interested publisher. Research collected for the book started appearing in Next Generation magazine as articles starting in 1996. After failing to interest a publisher, Kent decided to self-publish the book as ''The First Quarter: A 25-Year History of Video Games'' on November 1, 2000 under the label BW ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RCA Studio II
The RCA Studio II is a home video game console made by RCA that debuted in January 1977. The graphics of Studio II games were black and white and resembled those of earlier Pong consoles and their clones. The Studio II also did not have joysticks or similar game controllers but instead used two ten-button keypads that were built into the console itself. The console was capable of making simple beep sounds with slight variations in tone and length. The Studio II included five built-in games. The Studio II was not a successful product; the previously released Fairchild Channel F made it obsolete at launch and the Atari 2600, superior to both, was released ten months later. After poor Christmas sales in 1977, RCA discontinued the Studio II. Development RCA engineer Joseph Weisbecker began building his own personal computer at home in the late 1960s, and encouraged the company to sell small computers. RCA introduced the Studio II video game console—using Weisbecker's COSMAC ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ROM Cartridge
A ROM cartridge, usually referred to in context simply as a cartridge, cart, cassette, or card, is a replaceable part designed to be connected to a consumer electronics device such as a home computer, video game console or, to a lesser extent, electronic musical instruments. Read-Only Memory, ROM cartridges allow users to rapidly load and access programs and data alongside a floppy drive in a home computer; in a video game console, the cartridges are standalone. At the time around their release, ROM cartridges provided security against Software copyunauthorised copying of software. However, the manufacturing of ROM cartridges was more expensive than floppy disks, and the storage capacity was smaller. ROM cartridges and slots were also used for various hardware accessories and enhancements. The widespread usage of the ROM cartridge in video gaming applications has led it to be often colloquially called a game cartridge. History ROM cartridges were popularized by early home ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Printed Circuit Board
A printed circuit board (PCB), also called printed wiring board (PWB), is a Lamination, laminated sandwich structure of electrical conduction, conductive and Insulator (electricity), insulating layers, each with a pattern of traces, planes and other features (similar to wires on a flat surface) Chemical milling, etched from one or more sheet layers of copper laminated onto or between sheet layers of a non-conductive substrate. PCBs are used to connect or Electrical wiring, "wire" Electronic component, components to one another in an electronic circuit. Electrical components may be fixed to conductive pads on the outer layers, generally by soldering, which both electrically connects and mechanically fastens the components to the board. Another manufacturing process adds Via (electronics), vias, metal-lined drilled holes that enable electrical interconnections between conductive layers, to boards with more than a single side. Printed circuit boards are used in nearly all e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Magnavox Odyssey
The Magnavox Odyssey is the first commercial home video game console. The hardware was designed by a small team led by Ralph H. Baer at Sanders Associates, while Magnavox completed development and released it in the United States in September 1972 and overseas the following year. The Odyssey consists of a white, black, and brown box that connects to a television set, and two rectangular game controller, controllers attached by wires. It is capable of displaying three square dots and one line of varying height on the screen in monochrome black and white, with differing behavior for the dots depending on the game played. Players place plastic overlays on the screen to display additional visual elements for each game, and one or two players for each game control their dots with the knobs and buttons on the controller by the rules given for the game. The console cannot generate audio or track score (game), scores. The Odyssey console came packaged with dice, paper money, and other b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
First Generation Of Video Game Consoles
In the history of video games, the first generation era refers to the video games, video game consoles, and handheld video game consoles available from 1972 to 1983. Notable consoles of the first generation include the Odyssey series (excluding the Magnavox Odyssey 2), the Atari Home Pong, the Coleco Telstar series and the Color TV-Game series. The generation ended with the Computer TV-Game in 1980 and its following discontinuation in 1983, but many manufacturers had left the market prior due to the market decline in the year of 1978 and the start of the second generation of video game consoles. Most of the games developed during this generation were hard-wired into the consoles and unlike later generations, most were not contained on removable media that the user could switch between. Consoles often came with accessories and cartridges that could alter the way the game played to enhance the gameplay experience as graphical capabilities consisted of simple geometry such as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
